The present embodiments relate generally to the display of images on a display screen. In particular, the present embodiments relate to three dimensional visualizations of three dimensional data, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance, x-ray rotation angiography, three dimensional ultrasound, and/or other medical data.
Endoscopic view visualizations may provide three dimensional visualizations from the inside of vessels and/or tube-like or hollow organs. The viewing point may be located within the three dimensional anatomical structure. To achieve an endoscopic view visualization, many visualization parameters may be modified, including viewing point (x, y, z), viewing direction (yaw, pitch, roll), viewing angle, threshold for extraction of the inner surface of the hollow organ, and smoothness of the inner surface of the hollow organ. Conventional user interfaces for endoscopic view visualization may employ complex user operations, especially when moving within relatively large hollow organs (e.g., heart chambers) where the degrees of freedom regarding the movement are less limited than other structures, such as within thin vessel structures.
For instance, a number of implementations of user interfaces exist on different workstations produced by various manufacturers. The Med-Leonardo workstation manufactured by Siemens Medical Solutions (located in Erlangen, Germany) provides a solution with four windows. One segment contains the endoscopic view visualization, the remaining three segments contain two dimensional windows (referred to as MPRs (multi-planar reformatting)) of the three dimensional anatomy. The modification of the endoscopic view parameters, viewing point, and the viewing orientation may be changed by right clicking on the endoscopic view window and by selecting a modification parameter from a menu. However, this user interface is cumbersome to use due to the complexity of the application, especially when navigating within large hollow organs.